‘No woman left in my family now’: India’s Hathras mourns stampede victims

Vinod Kumar reacts during the cremation of his wife, mother and daughter who died in the stampede in Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh [Md Meharban/Al Jazeera]

Hathras, India – Vinod Kumar was away from home for work when he received a call informing him that his 70-year-old mother’s photo was circulating on social media, and that she was among dozens killed in a stampede at a religious event she was attending last week.

“I rushed home and as soon as I reached, I asked for my wife’s whereabouts and no one knew. I asked for my daughter. She is nine or 10 years old,” Kumar, who sells leather and rexine bags for a living, told Al Jazeera, wiping tears from his face. “She was nowhere to be found, either.”